UlteriorMotives (2 page)

He gaped at her for a moment but then managed to mumble,
“You ran a background check on me?”

“Of course. What kind of a businesswoman do you take me
for?” She bristled at the insinuation. She might have gone looking for a
husband through slightly nontraditional channels, but she had a brain. “I did a
background check on my cook before I hired her and the worst she could do is
steal the silver. After ten years, half my land becomes yours. I can’t let a
criminal or a gambler get his hands on half my land. Besides, it was your
background in law that made you stand out. An understanding of the law could be
a big help around here.”

“I don’t think my field of law will be particularly
helpful.”

She couldn’t imagine a field of law that couldn’t be put to
some use. Even if he made his living chasing ambulances, he had to take
coursework in other fields. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” She
smiled weakly at her pun but he didn’t seem amused.

He looked down at his food and sighed as if the weight of
the world were on his shoulders before looking back up at her. “Okay. I guess
it’s only fair you know. I represent the government in cases of eminent
domain.”

An alarm went off in her head. “Eminent domain?” Her pulse
raced with anger as she digested the words. The government didn’t let its
lawyers just walk away. It paid for the lawyers’ school, gave them hefty loans
and flashy gifts in return for a lifetime of servitude. It owned its lawyers
from graduation to the grave. Which meant marriage had never been Jasper Lee’s
goal. He’d been after her land from the start. And she’d foolishly given him a
damn tour of it. “Get the hell out of my house.” The words were soft but her
voice was steady and, thankfully, held its power. “And get the hell off
my
land.”

“Look, Kat—”

“Don’t call me that.” Her chair fell to the floor as she
stood suddenly. He jumped at the noise but otherwise didn’t move.

“I’m not here to take your land.” His words were clipped but
spoken loudly enough to ensure she heard him.

“No, of course not. You wouldn’t do that,” she said with a
sneer. “The government does the actual stealing. Keeps the whole process
faceless and civilized-like. I’m not an idiot!”

“The government is not in the business of stealing land. If
you’d let me explain—”

Her brash laugh had so much force that it actually hurt her
throat. “Forgive me if I have a hard time believing you, but you’ve been lying
to me since the moment we met.”

“Fine. You don’t have to hear me out. You can plug your ears
and hum the national anthem for all I care. But if you want to keep your land,
you might want to at least pretend to listen.” He stopped to give her a chance
to argue but when she held her tongue, he continued, “You have a major problem.
It’s not me though. I’m here because a citizen filed a complaint with the Land
Authority. He said there were major mismanagements of land and finances taking
place on this ranch.”

“He’s wrong.” Her voice was sharp with anger. “I run a tight
ship. There’s not a head of livestock or so much as a dime missing from the
books.” She righted her chair and then sank into it as she weighed Mr. Lee’s
claim. He could still be lying. This complaint of his was obviously filled with
trumped-up charges. Charges he could be using to make her less suspicious of
the government. Then again, if he wasn’t lying he might be her best shot at
proving the complaint was filled with lies.

Her head began to ache as she chased the thought around in
circles. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she forced herself to take a deep
breath and focus on solutions. What could she do either way? She sighed as she
realized how limited her options were. It wasn’t as if she could grab a gun and
chase him off her land. Pulling a weapon on a government official would be the
quickest way for her to lose her ranch. No. The only thing she could do was
hope for the best and prepare for the worst. She needed to focus on proving her
business was above the board. Everything else would fall into place after she
did that. She hoped.

“After what I’ve seen, I’m inclined to believe you. But
there was a complaint and it’s going to take more than a guided tour to clear
it up.” His voice and demeanor were both friendly but she didn’t trust him.

“This doesn’t even make sense. I’m a little ranch on an
unimportant colony planet. Even if there is mismanagement—and I’m not saying
there is—why would you give a damn?”

“Your ranch may be small compared to some, but it’s managed
to capture political interest. I don’t know all the specifics. I’m a lawyer,
not a politician. Not much of a distinction, I know, but I still like to point
it out.” His smile was just self-deprecating enough to lighten some of the
stress in the room. “But I do know that when a politician gets a call from a
very important constituent, he investigates.”

“This constituent, he filed the complaint?”

“No. Representative Loase filed it on his behalf.”

“Why would Representative Loase do that? I’ve never met him.
He’s never visited my ranch. Why would he believe the worst about me?” She put
her hands down on the table, hoping to draw some comfort from its strength.

“He’s being a politician. Don’t worry though. A couple of
the more egregious complaints can be dismissed by what I witnessed today. I’m
going to file a positive preliminary report tonight and then go over your books
with you tomorrow. Barring any unforeseen issues, we should have this cleared
up in a matter of days.”

“Egregious? What did they say I’m doing out here?”

“There was some speculation as to the level of animal care
maintained on the ranch and some concerns about the overall health of the
livestock.”

Anger and nausea warred within her at the idea. How could
someone accuse her of abusing her animals? “I take good care of my livestock.”

“I know. I saw how well they’re being treated firsthand. And
I’ll make sure that’s the highlight of my preliminary report. This isn’t a
witch-hunt, Kat. I have to do an investigation, but I’ll be fair about it. I
promise.”

The rush of relief nearly made her dizzy. And the warmth of
his hand closing around hers didn’t help the sensation much. He seemed as if he
honestly wanted to be fair. Then again, just two hours ago, she’d thought he
honestly wanted to be a rancher. “Why the pretense? Why answer my ad?” She had
to know why he hadn’t been upfront with her from the start.

“Believe it or not, I did that to protect you. We try to
keep these investigations as quiet as possible. Showing up on a settler planet
can stir up all kinds of rumors. We don’t want any nearby land sharks to smell
blood and come running.” He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Sometimes all it
takes is a convincing lie to run a perfectly good business into the ground.
With that in mind, you might want to continue with the pretense for the length
of the investigation. After I’m done you can tell everyone I couldn’t hack it
and I went back to my cushy inner world life. No one will ever be the wiser and
your ranch’s reputation will still be sterling.”

She nodded but took her hand away from his. She still didn’t
trust him, not completely, but he’d given her a lot to think about. “I’ll put
your stuff in the guestroom.”

“Thank you.”

She stood slowly, mindful of her wobbly legs. Someone had
filed a complaint against her ranch—one that could’ve potentially cost her the
land. She never cut corners, kept everything above the board though. There was
no way the person’s complaint could have any real merit. That thought should’ve
made her feel better. She would pass this investigation with flying colors. But
it didn’t. It made her feel infinitely worse because now she knew someone
wanted her land badly enough to lie to the government for it. And if that
wasn’t bad enough, he had a politician in his corner. If this went to court, it
would be her word against two very powerful people—regardless of what the
lawyer said. With her luck, one of them probably signed Mr. Lee’s paycheck.
Things were not looking good for her.

“Breakfast is at sunrise. I’m pretty busy first thing but
I’ll have some time in the afternoon to go over the accounting statements with
you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate your cooperation.”

She nodded but didn’t reply as she walked away from him. She
needed to get out of this room and as far away from him as possible. There had
to be some way to figure out who had done this to her. She just needed to clear
her head and it would come to her. The answers always did. No way in hell was
she letting some crony take her life away from her. Not after everything she’d
put into it. She’d paid for this land with her own blood, sweat and tears. It
was going to stay hers.

Jasper stayed at the table long after Kat had left. He
needed to fill out the preliminary report and make sure it was submitted before
he could do anything else. His gut hurt at the anger and fear he’d seen in her
eyes, but doing something to help her eased the pain. She shouldn’t have to be
going through this. Someone had set her up. He’d had his suspicions about the
system when three ranch seizures had come across his desk in one month. When
her plot of land had come up the next month, he decided to do a little
investigating.

He’d started by checking with his colleagues. He hadn’t been
working for the government for very long. Maybe seizures were more common than
he thought. But, as it turned out, his hunch had been right. They were a rarity.
There might be three in a year. Three in a month, however, was unheard of. So
he’d dug a little deeper.

At first he’d dug quietly. He didn’t want anyone to find out
and question his loyalties. Unlike his father, Jasper believed in working from
inside a system to bring about change. He wouldn’t be able to do that if the
Land Authority fired him. But when it became impossible to keep things quiet
and make progress, he decided to go to his boss with his suspicions. Jasper had
expected the man to throw more bureaucratic roadblocks at him but he’d actually
been sympathetic to Jasper’s investigation. If Jasper could come up with a
cover story, his boss would even let him travel to the ranch to do a more
conclusive inquiry.

Jasper had just decided on presenting himself as a farmer in
the market for a partner in the ranching business when Kat’s ad for a husband
fell into his lap. It’d been fate. Or, at least, that’s how it’d felt at the
time. Now he felt like a heel for taking advantage of her. He would give her back
the money she’d given him for travel expenses, of course, but he couldn’t
refund her time as easily. Judging from his research, she wouldn’t have a hard
time finding a husband. She seemed genuine, hardworking and ran a successful
business. But still, he hated that he’d manipulated her that way.

A door clicked softly in the distance and Jasper almost got
up to investigate but the soft patter of shower water a few minutes later made
it unnecessary. A self-reliant woman like Kat wouldn’t appreciate him checking
up on her. Especially not while she was in the shower.

He checked his device one last time to ensure that the
report had gone through and was uploaded properly in the database before he
stood to stretch. He needed to get to bed. Tomorrow brought with it a whole new
batch of challenges and he’d need a good night’s sleep to face them.

When he opened the door to the guestroom, though, the
blaring of an alarm stopped him from going any farther. At first he thought
he’d somehow triggered the noise but as soon as he smelled the first wisps of
smoke, understanding filled him. Something was on fire. He wanted to rush out
into the safety of the open grounds but he fought against the instinct. He had
to make sure Kat got out as well.

He raced back to the bathroom to find her standing in the
hallway, wrapped in nothing but a towel, with her dark hair flung over one
shoulder in a curly mess. There were no tears or hysterical rants despite the
fear clearly reflected in her expression.

His job required him to make quick assessments of situations
and he excelled at it. But sometimes that left him blind to the more subtle
aspects of life. He’d seen a competent businesswoman when he’d first laid eyes
on Katarina Maxim. She’d been nothing but efficient and practical from the
moment she held her hand out to him. But now, as she shivered in front of him
with alarms going off in the background, he realized how much he’d missed in
that original assessment. He’d seen her as a businesswoman but the person
standing in front of him now possessed so much more. The vulnerability of the
moment and her calm resolve in meeting it added to her strength and touched
him.

“I came to find you as soon as I heard the alarm.”

“Most men would’ve gone to battle the blaze first.”

His heart sank at her words. She saw him as a coward. Not
that it mattered how she saw him. He wasn’t really trying out for the role of
her husband. As soon as he finished his report, he’d be on his way back to his
real life. But her words still stung. He’d like to be the hero at least once.
To be the one who rushed in and saved the day.

“Don’t look at me like I just kicked your damn puppy. I
meant that as a compliment. Most men stupidly let their hormones control them
and they tend to get in the way,” she added as she walked past him. “I’ve never
been impressed with the gender as a whole.”

He felt fairly certain they did not share the same
understanding of the word “compliment” but didn’t dare ask for a clarification
as she bustled down the hallway all businesslike. When she turned into her
bedroom, though, he thought it’d be best for him to say something. “Shouldn’t
we be getting out of here before the house burns down around us?”

“Don’t be so melodramatic. Two long bursts followed by one
short means the fire is in the barn.” A flash of her naked body teased him as
she threw the towel down to the floor. He looked away as quickly as possible,
but he’d still seen her long enough for her lean lines to be burned into his
brain.

He breathed out a deep sigh as he tried to banish the image.
His body wasn’t as interested in forgetting her, however, and keeping his eyes
closed only made the memory that much sharper. He needed to focus on anything
else and the fire would do. “Good. We’re safe in the house then.”

“The house is safe. We’re going to the barn though.” Her
voice was muffled for a second, which he prayed meant she’d put on a shirt.
“Around here, fires are an all hands on deck kind of thing.”

She expected him to do what? Fight a fire? He stopped at the
thought and shook his head. What did he know about firefighting? The systems
were all automated where he lived. “Don’t you have a suppression system?” That
was the extent of his firefighting knowledge. Everyone needed to have a
suppression system installed in his or her house—and barn, he added.

“Yep.”

He looked over at her just as she wiggled into a pair of
pants. She didn’t seem concerned in the least that he was standing right there
talking to her as she got dressed. “Then won’t it take care of everything?”

“Animals don’t always listen to computerized evacuation
orders,” she answered simply. After sliding her feet into heavy boots, she
started down the hallway again. “And the system won’t seal off the fire until
either all life forms are clear or someone hits the safety bypass.”

So the longer they talked, the more time the barn had to
burn. He took a deep breath before following her into the back of the house.
She handed him a mask, jacket and a heavy pair of gloves before grabbing gear
of her own and then disappearing out the door into the night. He had to admit,
this had the feel of a well-rehearsed event.

He had to jog to keep up with her, which made putting the
mask on difficult. He’d just managed to adjust the straps when they made it to
the barn. There were no flames visible but a thick, ominous smoke poured out of
every opening.

“Status?” Even muffled by the mask, her voice still managed
to have an edge of authority.

A large man dressed in a mask, coat and gloves identical to
theirs turned to answer her. “Two bulls and one calf are still trapped. They’re
in stalls four, three and one. We’ve cleared the rest but the fire has spread
all the way from stall fifteen to eight. Mark and Stan had to take a break
after the last batch. They got a little singed in there.”

“Good to know.” She slipped on her jacket and gloves
efficiently before continuing, “Okay, I’ve got stall four. Bob, you’ve got
three. Mr. Lee, you’ve got one. It’ll be the first door on the right and is
about twenty yards in. Best bet is to chase the animal through the door at the
back of the stall. That leads into the pasture. If the animal is too far gone
or if the fire has spread and it’s too dangerous to rescue the animal, press
the bypass button to the left of the stall door. That will trigger the
fail-safe.”

That sounded more than a little ominous. He donned the coat
and gloves before asking, “By fail-safe you mean what, exactly?”

“It’ll seal the stall with the animal inside.”

His stomach turned at her announcement.

“We’ll do everything we can to save them, but we don’t know
what we’re walking into. The ranch is more important than any single animal.
You understand, Lee?”

He nodded but his throat was too dry to actually speak. He’d
never had to leave an animal to die before and he wasn’t exactly comfortable
with the possibility.

“Good.” She reached up to turn on the flashlight in his mask
before nodding. “Follow me.” She turned on her own flashlight and then walked
into the barn.

He followed her into the building even as every
self-preservation instinct he had screamed for him to turn back. The mask
filtered the smoke before it could reach his lungs but it didn’t make seeing
through the stuff any easier. And the drops of water raining down from the
sprinkler system didn’t help either. They splattered against the plastic screen
of the mask, leaving a sludgy mess in their wake. He quickly decided not to
trust his eyes alone and began running his hand along the right wall as he
counted his steps. Just as he took his twenty-first step, his fingers brushed
against the indentation of the stall door. It only took a moment for him to
locate the latch and open the door. Inside, the stall was dark but the smoke
wasn’t as heavy as it had been in the hallway. He could even make out the form
of an animal lying on the straw floor.

“Hey, Mr. Cow. I’m here to get you out.” He shut the door
behind him to keep as much smoke out as possible and then knelt next to the
animal. After taking off his glove, he reached out and stroked the cow gently
to get its attention. He hadn’t been around many cows in his life, but he
immediately noted the small size of the animal. “You’re a tiny thing, aren’t
you?” He shook his head as understanding filled him. “She sent me after the
calf, didn’t she?” He patted the animal again to confirm its size. “Of course
she did.”

Waves of heat rolled through the air. They pressed against
him and made him sweat under the mask and jacket. He had to get the calf out of
the barn now. But first he had to determine if it still lived. He hated to
think about the alternative, but even he could see it would be a waste of time
and effort to try to save an animal if it had already succumbed to the smoke.
And it hadn’t moved since Jasper had come into its stall.

He moved a hand down the animal’s head until he found its
soft nose. He had to wait for a moment but soon he felt the trickle of air
leaving the animal. The calf still breathed. That meant there was still time.
Jasper tried to shake the calf to get it to stand, but that didn’t work. With
the clock ticking loudly in his head, he finally decided to scoop the animal up
in his arms. He carried the calf out the back door and got them as far from the
barn as possible before sitting it down on the grass near a group of cattle. It
only took a moment for one of the cows to waddle up to the calf and start
licking it. Jasper waited until the calf coughed and then watched the animal as
it nuzzled the cow before he turned back to the barn. The other man had already
guided a lethargic-looking bull out of the barn and into a neighboring pasture,
but he didn’t see Kat anywhere. A ball of fear quickly grew in the pit of his
stomach.

If she’d sent him after the calf, that meant she’d been
freeing a bull in stall four. And the fire had already made it from stall
fifteen to stall eight when they entered the barn. How long would it take to
spread just four more stalls?

He ran back to the barn and then went through the doorway
into stall three. Because of the odd-even numbering, he’d have to cross the
hallway to get to stall four. Glowing embers and small flames danced in the
open space between the stalls, but they were still small and he had no choice
but to risk them. He needed to make sure Kat had made it to safety.

He raced across the corridor, slowing only to open the door
to the stall before running into the small room. It wasn’t hard to spot the
bull lying on the floor or the outline of a woman burying her face in its neck.
“The fire is going to spread to this stall any second. You have to get out of
here, Kat.”

She looked up at him but the thick smoke made it impossible
for him to make out her expression. “Says the man who just ran back into the
burning building?” She trailed her hand over the animal’s head as she sighed
heavily. “He’s still alive but I can’t get the stubborn bull to move. No matter
how loud I yell or how hard I pull and shove at him, he just lies there.” She
tugged on the bull as if to prove her words. “I even tried using the cattle
prod and I hate using that thing. But he won’t move.” She looked down at the
animal as she petted him again. “I can’t just leave him here to die. My parents
bought him just a month after we moved out here.” Weary pain echoed in each
word. “They always said he brought the ranch luck.”

He could only imagine how much the death of this animal
would hurt her, but the time for mourning would come later. After they’d saved
what they could of the barn. He knelt next her and gathered her into his arms
in a hug. But he couldn’t carry her out of the building as he had the sick calf
no matter how much he longed to. He’d bet money that someone had set the fire
intentionally to make her look negligent on the report and in front of her
people. She needed to show everyone that this hadn’t broken her. She had to
answer this new threat with a show of strength. “Come on.” He took her hand in
his and stood, bringing her up with him. “We need to get out of here.” He
wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her out of the barn through the back
door of the stall. Once they reached the pasture he turned and pressed the
bypass button without comment. She needed to be strong but he refused to be the
heartless bastard who made her push the button that would surely kill one of
her favorite animals.